You don't have to do no soloin', brother; just keep what you got. Don't turn it louse! 'Cause it's a mutha." If you want to know the essence of the funky drummer, those words, and the drum break they introduce, should bc enough. You can keep your fancy fills- this is about the groove . James Brown rapped those instructions to Clyde Stublefield on JB's 1970 song "Funky Drummer," and wetre feeling the effects more today than at any time in the twenty years since. The band dropped out for eight bars, and Clyde was Icft to lay down what might be the most sampled and imitated drum beat in history. It's been estimated that samples of JB's beats, screams, and exclamations have appeared on two or three thousand recordings, from cuts by Public Enemy and En Vogue to Fine Young Cannibals and George Michael. That alone would be cause for some serious investigation. But therets more to the story. The rhythm itself-sampled or merely imitated on the kit-is the basis for the hip-hop and Manchester beats, the two most pervasive dance grooves on the two sides of the Atlantic. That slinky, syncopated, irresistible funk literally defines the genres.
Pop and dance fans weren't the only people affected
by JB's music, either. It's a good bet the fusion movement would have developed quite
differently if it weren't for Brown's funk. Take a listen to Miles Davis is BitcI2esBre7,
and it's hard not to make the Brown connection. Miles himself acknowledged it. And
other pioneers of the fusion movement, like the Breaker Brothers and Herbie Hancock's
Headhunters, freely used JB as a launching pad. Today the music is still relevant. Recent1!; Polydor James Brown box set, Star Time, convinced Living Colour to tackle JB's "Talkin' Loud & Sayin' Nothing." "We literally played that CD two months in a row when we were on the road," says drummer William Calhoun. "That's the funkiest music ever recorded." And Sinead O'Connor's "I Am Stretched Over Your Grave," which basically consists of Sinead singing over a loop of the "Funky Drummer" drum break, is a staple jukebox tune in Irish pubs. It all comes back to the BEAT-and for our purposes,
to the drummers themselves. !e can point to JB as a rhythmic genius, but serious credit
has to go to his drummers. They were able to translate Brown's ideas to the drumset and
were relied upon to drive anywhere from 6 to 40 -piece bands for hours at a time. They
were also able to articulate revolutionary musical changes and survive the grueling
lifestyle that Brown required of his ensemble in the 35 years of JB's career, lots of
drummers have come and gone, some staving longer than others. |
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It's easy
to forget where it all comes from. But to understand the importance of the BEAT, you
really have to go to the source: James Brown. In the ten years between 1964 and 1974,
James Brown set, broke, and reset the mold for groove music more times and with more
impact than anybody on the planet. Tune likes "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag,"
"I Got You (I Feel Good)," "Cold Sweat," "I Got The
Feeling'," "Say It Loud - I'm Black And I'm Proud," "Thc
Payback," and "Sex Machine" not only defined R&B and funk, but they
documented and, one could argue, affected the social fabric of the time. Change was
happening at a ratc unheard of in history, and JB's music and words were in the middle of
it.
